Waiting Fate (5 page)

Ivy felt the heat rise to her face, although she wasn’t sure why she’d blushed. She focused on the ball, spinning the cute little men to kick it into the other team’s goal. “I don’t believe you,” she finally said after scoring her point. “You and Archer were always the nice guys in school.”

“Him and Archer? What about the rest of us?” Jay asked from where he sat on the edge of her parents’ empty hot tub, watching the game and texting on his phone.

“Right. The rest of you
picked
up my car and moved it so I couldn’t find it after school one day.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes as she spun her little foosball men, blocking the ball.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry about that,” Gunner said lamely, failing to stop her ball. They were almost yelling to be heard over the constant
thwack
the little ball made as it bounced and rolled around the table.

“Oh, oh, and another time you took out all the spark plugs.” She stepped back and put her hands on her hips, so she could glare at Jay and Gunner both. “How was that nice?”

“We were…” Gunner glanced at Jay, looking for help.

Jay laughed. “We were making your life more interesting.”

Gigi laughed. “I remember that. I also remember that it was Archer who fixed your mess so she could go home.”

Ivy nodded. “Proving my point.”

“Well, he’s kinda a bad —” Austin started, but Gunner interrupted him, yelling, “Earmuffs!” and covering Ivy’s ears with his hands. Ivy giggled as he squished her ears between his palms.

“What—” Austin looked from Gunner’s hands to Ivy’s head, “—are you doing?”

“She doesn’t swear,” Gunner said.

Ivy blushed again as everyone in the room looked at her like she had two heads. “I have a toddler. I have to watch my language.” Her voice was muffled in her own head, with Gunner’s hands still over her ears.

“I haven’t seen her yet. Is she asleep?” Gigi asked, tactfully changing the subject, and Ivy sent her a grateful look.

“Yeah. She goes to bed at seven. Gets up at five.”
Even on weekends. We need to work on that.

Outside, a big truck roared into the driveway, sounding like thunder pounding through her house, and Austin grinned. “Archer’s back.”

Ivy peered out the window, looking for the beast that had probably just woken her child. It was dark, so she couldn’t see the details, except that it was huge. With gigantic tires. “That’s a big truck.” Excited chills raced up and down her spine.

“Yes, it is. I have one just like it, but red.” Austin slung his arm across her shoulder, leading her outside while the rest of them followed. “Took you long enough,” he called. Archer grunted.

“Who’s driving?” Jay asked. They had to take several cars, and Ivy wanted so much to ride in one of the big trucks. She’d always been a truck girl. But that would mean she could get stranded, and it was a long walk home. So Gigi, Gunner, and Jay rode with Ivy, and everyone else got to ride in the big trucks.

The pumpkin maze was packed, which wasn’t surprising since it was the middle of October and the weather was still mild. Ivy latched herself to Gigi before they made it into the corn, determined to protect herself from all of those haunted creatures roaming the labyrinth. But, surrounded by several boys who were happiest causing her grief, she didn’t stand a chance. Every time she turned around, someone was jumping out at her or trying to tackle her into the corn. And they weren’t even the people that worked there.

“You’re supposed to be my friends — jerks!” she yelled playfully when Gunner tried to scare her out of her mind for at least the thirteenth time.

“Come on, Ivy. I’ll protect you.” Archer, who she’d barely seen since they’d left her house, was suddenly at her side, sliding his well-muscled arm around her shoulders and steering her away from their friends.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Gunner yelled. Archer just gave him a dark grin and they kept walking. She fit perfectly under his arm. The top of her head came to just above his chin. She tried to ignore the way her heart was pounding. She was used to it pounding in fear, nearly beating right out of her chest like it could escape and not be hurt anymore. She was not used to it pounding with excitement, or being aware of every centimeter where his skin touched hers. She gulped.
Oh, dear.
Luckily, or unfortunately, she wasn’t sure which, between his sweater and her coat there wasn’t much skin to electrify.

“You okay?” he asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his dark eyes. She nodded, glad for the dimness that hid her ever-present, ever-annoying blush. What was wrong with her? A few short months ago she was scared for her life — because of a man. Now she was acting like a stupid teenager just because this guy was saving her from the fake bad guys?

She shook her head and slid out from under his arm. “I think the exit’s this way.” She jerked her chin in the opposite direction. She had no idea which way the exit was. And now her whole side — the one that had just been molded into Archer’s muscled abs — was cold.

He smiled. “If you say so.” Ivy had the distinct impression that he was humoring her, but she’d had lots of experience getting herself un-lost. Practically every time Ivy had gone hiking in Alaska, she’d gotten herself turned around and disoriented, but somehow she’d always found her way home. She was counting on that internal compass now.

As an added bonus, none of the monsters in the corn maze had noticed them yet. “Is that it ahead?” she asked Archer, squinting through the darkness.

Before he could answer, a white blur darted toward them, exploding out of the corn, and she stumbled back, shrieking. She crashed into Archer with a squeal, and it took her several seconds to realize he was laughing. The white blur bounced out of the corn and dove at a dark shape just turning the corner into view, shoving it into the corn with hysterical laughter. Ivy’s half-blind eyes finally registered the dark shape as Jay and the white blur was Gigi.

Ivy giggled as she looked up at Archer’s face. He was smiling down at her in amusement, his hands holding lightly to her upper arms. She could feel his touch burning through her jacket, and every inch of her back that leaned against his broad chest was tingly.
Oh crap
, she thought, her heart pounding.

“Ivy! Chainsaw guy coming your way!” Gunner yelled, racing down the path toward her. He grabbed her arm and dragged her with him. She laughed as she stumbled and fell, pulling Gunner into a tangled heap with her.

The chainsaw roared to life behind her and she squealed, leaping to her feet and sprinting past Gunner.
Every girl for herself!
she thought frantically. She was a runner. She’d always been a runner. Fear just made her run faster.

****

The entire group went to a late dinner afterward. They were embarrassingly loud and obnoxious, and Ivy slouched in her seat and hoped none of the other customers started throwing food or utensils. Archer sat at a table across the aisle with Austin and another girl Ivy remembered from high school. One that seemed to remember Ivy also, and kept glaring at her over the rim of her drink.
I’m not that person anymore. I swear I’m not,
Ivy thought, but she said nothing. She deserved the glares. She had been horrible in high school — bossy, self-centered, and mean. She had also been miserable and lonely. She assumed these things were related.

When the noise at their tables reached a decibel suitable for a circus tent, Ivy went to pay. When she turned away from the counter, Archer was leaning against the wall, watching her. “Hi,” she said, smiling.
Umm, no, my heart isn’t pounding like I’ve just sprinted away from a chainsaw massacre.

“Hey,” he answered. Unsure what else to do, Ivy leaned against the wall next to him, waiting for the rest of their friends to hurry up and pay. Any longer and the other customers were going to start attacking with sharpened forks.

“So what ya been up to?” he asked after several seconds of silence.

“Umm… I’m getting divorced. Have a baby.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I heard.”
Awesome
. So they were talking about her now.

“Sorry about your girlfriend,” Ivy blurted. Her hand flew to her mouth, but it wasn’t fast enough to shut her up.

He frowned, his eyes darkening. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not.”

“Hey, Arch, I’m heading home. You okay with that?” Another of their group, one of the few Ivy didn’t know, approached with his wife behind him.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Archer asked.

“Everyone else is going back to Jay’s to watch a movie. But you’re my ride…” The other guy trailed off.

Archer glanced over at the tables, where most of their group was getting up. “I wasn’t plannin’ on leaving now. Let me see if A will give me a ride home and you can take my truck.” He sighed, pushing away from the wall.

“A?” Ivy frowned. Was he suddenly Canadian?

Archer smiled down at her. “Austin. Old nickname from high school.”

“Oh. Well, he can take your truck and I — I can take you home after. If you want.” Ivy stuttered. She felt ridiculous. It wasn’t like she was asking him out or anything.

Archer nodded. “That works. Thanks.” He smiled at her and her knees threatened mutiny. Much more of Archer and they’d give out on her entirely. She’d be a big puddle of girly goo soon.

They watched a horror movie, but that was all she noticed. Archer fell asleep next to her on the floor, his hand outstretched. She kept staring at his hand, wondering why she wanted so bad to reach out and twine her fingers through his, or to curl up against his side, or brush his hair away from his forehead.
Girl, you’ve got issues.
She groaned at herself. She fell asleep after that, which worked nicely in preventing her from wanting to hold Archer’s hand.

It was just after three in the morning when she and Archer left Jay’s house, stumbling into the cold night air, both still half-asleep. “Are you sure you’re okay taking me home?” Archer asked, yawning.

Ivy shivered as she dug her keys out of her pocket. “Yep. If you can remember where you live.” He gave her a crooked smile as he climbed in the passenger seat. They drove in silence for several minutes along the abandoned country roads. Ivy was pretty sure Archer had gone back to sleep, but she didn’t glance over to check. Her heart, traitorous as it was, made a racket when she looked at him.

So it surprised her when he cleared his throat. “Sorry things didn’t work out for you and your ex.”

Now Ivy did glance at him, surprised. “I — oh. Yeah. Well, it’s for the best. I’m just trying to protect Desee now.” She winced when she realized what she’d just implied, hoping that he hadn’t noticed.

He had. “Protect her how?” His voice had lost any trace of sleepiness, and she could feel him watching her.

She bit her lip, refusing to look at him while she racked her brain for an excuse. Her brain didn’t want to cooperate so early in the morning. “Umm, you know. Because divorce is so hard on the kids and stuff.” She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye, hoping he’d bought it. His face was unreadable in the dull green light from the dashboard, but he didn’t say anything for several more minutes. She guessed she was safe.

Finally, Archer cleared his throat, startling her out of her silent road-contemplating. “So are you gonna hang out with us next weekend? I think it’s just gonna be low-key at Jay’s house.”

“I don’t know. Maybe. This week is pretty busy.” She flipped her blinker on as she got ready to turn, even though there was no one else driving in either direction for as far as she could see. “I have to go to a play for my Greek History class, and I have to go to a football game for extra credit in my music class.”

Archer frowned, blinking hard like he was fighting to keep his eyes open. “Football for… extra credit for music?”

Ivy laughed. “Yeah, it makes no sense to me either. But extra credit is extra credit. I’ll take what I can get.”

“Turn here.” Archer pointed, and she obediently flipped her blinker on again. He smirked at the windshield, but she knew it was directed at her.

“I’m a law-abiding citizen,” she said, sheepish and defensive all at once.
I’m talented that way.

“Second house on the left.” His house was nice — not extravagant, but in a nice neighborhood with a well-maintained lawn. And no cracks in the street. Ivy had always judged the quality of the neighborhood by how maintained the streets were. This neighborhood had smooth, nice streets with no weeds growing in the middle of them or even in the gutters.

“It’s my parents’ house,” Archer said without opening the door.

“It’s a nice house,” Ivy said, unsure of what else he wanted her to say.
I should not be expected to carry on intelligent conversation this early in the morning,
she wanted to tell him, but she didn’t think that would impress him much. And despite everything, she desperately wanted to impress him.

“I got laid off work a year ago and had to move back. I have a job now, but there hasn’t been a reason to find my own place.” He sounded nervous. Or ashamed.

Ivy shook her head. “I ran away from my husband with my dog and my baby, and I don’t have a job now. I win,” she teased.

His face lit up in a grin that melted her heart. “You gonna be at Jay’s tomorrow night doing homework?” he asked, his hand hesitating on the handle.

“Probably. My mom seems to think it’s good for me to get out of the house.”

“She sounds like an awesome mom.”

Ivy nodded, smiling, because Bev was. “She’s the best.”

“I’ve got work plans I’ve gotta figure out. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.” He jumped out of the car with a wave.

Ivy waved back, waited until he made it inside, and backed out of the driveway. Three-thirty in the morning, and she felt like she’d just downed a massive energy drink. With a goofy grin, she said to her car, “Maybe things will be okay after all.”

Chapter Four

For the fifth time that day, Archer smashed his thumb trying to hammer in a staple. He swore before grabbing the staple and shoving it back into place to try again. Any other day, he loved everything about being an electrician. Today, not so much.